Terry Crews explains why he gets benched for 'The Expendables 3'

I would happily sit down with Terry Crews once a week just to get the Terry Crews news update.

I can't believe how well the system has done at figuring out how to best utilize Crews, a very strong actor on all fronts, because I'm so used to seeing talented people of color trapped by opportunity or the lack thereof. Crews has been acclaimed for both drama and comedy, and it feels like directors and writers he works with keep finding new challenges to throw at him, and he keeps knocking them out. He's really good in pretty much everything and when I tune in to "Brooklyn Nine Nine" this coming season, he's absolutely part of that appeal for me.

He gets benched a bit in "The Expendables 3," which opens in theaters everywhere on Friday, and it's a drag. He's in the film's first big sequence, where the Expendables go to rescue a guy from a prison hellhole, and Caesar (Crews) has this giant machine gun he's carrying around one-handed that looks like it weighs more than me. It's part of his distinct charm that he is a guy who can carry that thing one-handed while showing off razor-sharp comic timing.

Dolph Lundgren was also in the room, and I had one of those moments where I considered saying something to correct him on something, then stopping myself because I have no idea how he'd take it. We're talking about the way the action scenes are staged in the movie, and I mentioned the film's second-unit director, who Lundgren quickly and decisively referred to as "Bradley Cooper."

That would be Dan Bradley, who has worked on pretty much anything badass you've seen in the last decade. And I know Lundgren knows exactly who he is. He just misfired that synapse and went to the next "Bradley" name on the list.

My review of the film is here, we had some other guests yesterday discussing the finer points of the "ho-box," and we'll have more interviews for you tomorrow.

A respected critic and commentator for fifteen years, Drew McWeeny helped create the online film community as "Moriarty" at Ain't It Cool News, and now proudly leads two budding Film Nerds in their ongoing movie education.